The Bears on Monday agreed to terms with tight end Zach Miller on a two-year contract.
Miller's emergence was one of the team's most pleasant surprises in 2015. After missing the previous three full seasons primarily due to injuries, he caught 34 passes for 439 yards and a team-leading five touchdowns in the first 15 games before missing the finale with a toe injury.
Zach Miller agreed to terms on a two-year contract.
The success was a long time coming for Miller, who hadn't played in an NFL game since 2011. After appearing in 33 contests with five starts with the Jaguars from 2009-11, he spent the 2012 season on injured reserve with the Jaguars, failed to make the Buccaneers roster in 2013 and landed on injured reserve again with the Bears in 2014.
Last November, Miller made a remarkable one-handed game-winning 25-yard touchdown catch against the Chargers and then followed six days later with two TD receptions, including an 87-yarder in a rout of the Rams that was the Bears' longest play from scrimmage last season.
Miller, 31, traveled a unique path to the NFL even before he was bitten by the injury bug. A quarterback at Nebraska-Omaha, he was immediately converted to tight end after being selected by the Jaguars in the sixth round of the 2009 draft. His only experience at his new position in college came in the Cactus Bowl, a Division II all-star game.
"I've always enjoyed going to Zach," quarterback Jay Cutler said last season. "He's one of those easy guys where you always know where he's going to be and he's a friendly target and he's a smart player. He used to be a quarterback, so he knows tempo things, knows when to gas it a little bit. I've never really second-guessed throwing him the ball."
